Legal Aspects of Virtual Worlds of Computer Games: Between Fiction and Reality

Abstract

The article analyzes in detail the problems of legal regulation of computer games. The authors focus on the legal nature of computer games, which can be considered as a result of intellectual activity, an object of copyright (primary and (or) secondary), a type of information, etc. Due to the plurality of approaches to the understanding of computer games in law enforcement practice, controversial issues of legal regulation of computer games arise in terms of identifying users of a computer game, jurisdiction of disputes complicated by a virtual element, analyzing the possibility of virtual property turnover, taxing income from the distribution of computer games, e-sports, the use of exclusive rights to computer game, legal protection of personal data, problems of dependence on virtual space and the prospects for the application of virtual reality to actual legal relations. In conclusion, the authors come to the conclusion that currently there are a number of important problems of legal regulation of social relations, complicated by the virtual element, which require an immediate response through the introduction of appropriate clarifications in domestic legislation.